torn

i really have this silly lil thought in my head that as the bride, i should have all things white. white dress (of course, well, ivory, but it's still in the white spectrum). white veil, white shoes, white flowers, white, white, white. but esp with the flowers and the shoes, i'm really looking toward the idea of having them of another color. i'm toying with the idea of blue shoes, but this isn't a huge deal to me. the flowers on the other hand, i'm suddenly quite obsessed with. at first, i thought it would just be too much white, but then i saw this and it looks wonderful! so now, i'm torn between this white on white look (mrs. pootiekins) because i'm a bride and ought to wear white:




now, of course, exploring all of the internet has given me vast more options. i REALLY love this idea of a bouquet wrap. it looks sooo romantic and soft, like the flowers have a dress on too (courtesy of mrs. apple)




and the bouquet wrap really looks best with the dark red flowers. i could totally see it with a dark red flower in my hair. but do you think i should reserve that for the bridesmaids? and have mine all white cuz i'm the bride? or should i just get over the all white bride thing?

and of course for the bit (lot) of bling (from the knot):



so whadya think? go with the red? or go with the white? i suppose the white would be fine with the bouquet wrap too... help me...

invite progress

this is what i've been consumed with for the past 3 weeks. last week was pretty much a bust because i burnt myself out so much. so this week, i decided to focus on something else and let my husband-to-be take a stab at it.

this was my very first try. note the all-too-shiny side of the silk and the waayy too wide sinamay.



this was my 2nd try. thought i'd make the sinamay vertical. still too wide though, but at least you can see/feel more of the fabric.



the lovely back side. the main invite piece will end up here. i ordered it from the philippines and my cousin's bringing it back here next week. yayyy for no shipping charges!



the progress as of last week. each yellow post-it note represents 10. the stack is being flattened by the albums on top. the albums contain our engagement photos, by the way!



this week, henry tried his hand at it and he was great and just as meticulous about it as i was! you can't even tell which ones he did from mine!



my darling htb (husband-to-be) hard at work:

oh holy ......

i saw some countdown thing somewhere and we're only at 124 days left! that seems sooo low for all the things i still need to do.

oh but it was a very productive weekend. we've narrowed down our rings, and i really love what we've chosen! we're still shopping around for the best deal so it's not quite purchased yet, but we've decided on one, so yay!

bought all 5 flower girl dresses, plus an extra one for his little cousin so she doesn't feel left out. i have to change the sash and use the shantung silk i purchased in the philippines to make a new one so that it will coordinate with the bridesmaids. hehe, and they're gonna wear red shoes too! soo cute! i'll show you pics in a bit.

ohhhh, i went to my first fitting after the alterations! it fits my midsection like a glove now. the chest however, was still giant, even after i was wearing the size A nubra. i thought the size b was too pointy and large for me, but i'll be wearing those. she'll also put in another hook onto the back just to close up the chest area more. AND, she still has to sew in extra cups into the dress. geez! my aunt and mom who were with me said, well, if you got married after you have kids, you'll have boobs like these. greattttttt, thanks guys.

the veil again

here's the response for the quote i requested:

Hello-

Thank you for your interest in a Custom Bridal Veil. For that particular style (1SH354) - it can only be worn ontop of the head if it has a heavier, weighted edge -- such as the rhinestone band, or a lace. With a light edging, since there are no gathers at the comb - it tends to form little "peaks" right on each side of the comb when worn on top of the head.
So - to make this work - you can either wear the veil a bit lower - like this one:
mantilla style worn lower on head

OR - have a few gathers at the top on a metal comb. The little bit of gathering would allow you to wear it high on the head - similiar to this veil:
gathered style worn on top of head, front
gathered style worn on top of head, back

I hope this makes sense -- let me know which you'd prefer and we'll get you a quote!

what do you think i should do? my object for the high placement is really to get the veil to frame my face. but the one that's placed a little lower does that as well. i just didn't want any poufy thing that gathered veils tend to do. although the one she shows here isn't really too poufy, so it might work just as well... errr, what should i do?

the veil

ode to anna's blogging style:

veil
–noun 1. a piece of opaque or transparent material worn over the face for concealment, for protection from the elements, or to enhance the appearance.
2. a piece of material worn so as to fall over the head and shoulders on each side of the face, forming a part of the headdress of a nun.

oh my god, i finally found a freakin picture of a girl with her hair up and her veil on top of her head! and it's gorgeous! (click on it to make bigger)


i've been totally stressing out over this veil issue, cuz i want a flower in my hair along with a veil. but i want the veil to be actually a veil, not some piece of tulle that's stuck to the back of your neck like some sort of tail. for me, i think it defeats the purpose of a veil if it's not actually covering your head. but when i would try on a veil that i liked, it only seemed to look good with my hair down or half down. i really like the look of the edge of the veil caressing my face. i just stumbled upon it on one of my first times trying on a veil and i love the soft, romantic, traditional look. but it was sooo hard to find a picture of anyone with this kind of hair up/veil on top of head style and i was starting to think that it just wouldn't look good. now, thanx to honeylicious, i have a tangible picture of what it'll look like! oh look at how gorgeous it is!!!!


mine will actually lay more flat on top of my head. more mantilla-cut with no gathers at the comb. many have had rave reviews about www.occanseydesigns.com and i sent them an email today requesting a quote for a fingertip veil with light beading around the edge to go with my gown. they seem to have great prices, so let's cross our fingers and pray for a good one for mine!

note: i'm a teeny tiny big hooked on www.weddingbee.com. it's like the knot discussion boards where people blog about weddings and their ideas and post questions that they're having. except, everyone's really nice on it and aren't bitchy or judgmental. i was on the knot discussion boards the other day and although i've been at this a while, i'm not too familiar with the wedding boards. it took me forever to decipher the acronyms (PIB is not peanut in butter. it's Posted in Bio). but as i kept surfing and reading the questions and answers, it made me really afraid to comment on them! check it out, one poor girl asked:
Honestly, seriously...I used to bash on people about tulle and wedding questions but i'm at the point with trying to figure out my own decorations that I'm resorting these boards. I can't tape or afix anything to the walls of the reception site and think i'm gonna do table decorations and flower stands and possibly two arches for height in the room....but i have no clue how to decorate an arch...do i use the forbidden tulle?? any ideas...i'm so serious...i'm about to elope! TIA

btw, i dunno what TIA means.

some responses she received:
~ *sniff*sniff*

That cheese looks good, but it seems to be attached to some kind of wooden base with a metal frame and spring structure on top of it. Perhaps I should stay away.

~ mmmmm.....cheese.

Arches are gross. You should use paper bells. Lots and lots of paper bells. You could hire people to hold them. I heard Ethopia is a good place to find cheap labor.

~ balloons, lots and lots of balloons.

sad, no? man, i felt so bad for that girl.

the to-do list

now, i have a much more extensive overall wedding-planner type of list. but i was going a little nuts yesterday trying to keep track of all the little things that i need to do more immediately, so i made myself a list:

the to-do pile:
~ order nubra
~ blog, wedding blog yesssss, one less thing.
~ create invitations (as of yesterday, i have 81 out of 100 completed with the 1st step! i'm on my way...), take pix of wedding stuff. pick out perfume for invitations. yessss, another thing done.
~ prototype of favors.
~ research hair, makeup, veil, flower for hair, my wedding shoes, wedding jewelry.
~ finish bridesmaid gifts, determine flower girl gifts
~ order flower girl dresses
~ try on alfred angelo bridesmaid dress, just in case that lady doesn't work out.
~ buy cheung sam/qui pao for rehearsal dinner, tea set for tea ceremony.
~ find out about the dance lessons. check city of la mirada for classes.
~ formalize ideas and needs/wants with videographer, photographer, florist, dj
~ pick out e-pics for the poster
~ pick out epics to burn on cd for cousin to get album made in the philippines.
~ ask u. bobby jay to help us with photo montage.

i did get a few things done today. too bad they weren't on my list though!

the done pile:
~ scheduled meeting with the church coordinator to do the FOCUS questionnaire. you know catholic weddings, they have a grip of requirements. but, i'm excited about this one. you get to know the strengths and weaknesses of your relationship. and after all this wedding stuff, we've definitely grown, i must say. so i can't wait to see what else it reveals. i just wish we were able to schedule this much sooner. our mtg's not til the 2nd week of july.

~ decided not to have the main invitation panel dhl/fed ex/ups'd to us from the philippines. they got it done much earlier than promised which i was so glad about. but now, it'll have to sit there in pinas and wait for mamsie (other grandma) to take it back here in mid-july. it was gonna cost, at the very least, the same price it cost to get them printed, doubling the overall cost of that panel! when the whole point of getting it printed there was to save money, that shipping wasn't really gonna work.

dang it, is that all i got done today? oh i worked on our wedding website the other day... that took practically alll day.

oh oh oh! i do wanna say that i love my dress!!! i tried it on immediately after i got it and of course, as expected, the chest was like 5 inches away from my body. i ordered it according to the size chart, and according to the size chart, i was a freakin size 8. so of course, it's gonna be that giant. but it was the smallest size that fit my hip measurements, so it kinda makes sense. but i took it to the seamstress that did mina's wedding on the sat before i went to the philippines. her place is called amy's tailoring but there's no amy there. her name is tina. she took over the spot from someone who wasn't the real amy either. hehe. anyway, she pinned it all on the sides and it was a nice snug fit. i was actually pretty nervous about that cuz caroline was saying that her seamstress took the sides in but the front chest was still the same (too big) and she had to alter it herself. but tina took it in and it felt pretty snug. with the nubra and another bra sewn in, i think it'll be just fine. i gave her a break and said she can get it to me later, so she said the 20th of june will be fine for her. and that's next wed! whoohooo! so i'll have my 1st (or is this my 2nd?) fitting with her at that time. i can't wait!

next time i blog, i'll tell you all the nifty stuff we got for sooo cheap at the philippines. :) shopping was awesome there! except for all the mosquito bites i got from divisoria. poo.